3, 2, 1 Synchronize!

I love those action packed movies where the crack team of operatives put their hands in together and synchronize their watches before they infiltrate some nefarious structure, assuring that they all make it to the rendezvous point at the same time... Sigh... If only life were that easy. But wait! Internet based calendars CAN make synchronizing your and your family's calendars even easier than that for a Queen Bee.

I first came upon Yahoo Calendar after I bought my new phone and found out that I could not sync (transfer data) my phone and my desktop PC at work. Like most Queen Bees I have a TON of work, social and family obligations that I NEED to be able to manage in one place AND I need to have the information available to me wherever I am. I also need other people to be able to access my calendar, BUT I only want them to know whether or not I am available at any particular time. Enter Yahoo Calendar. With Yahoo Calendar, I am able to sync my calendar and contact data from my phone, to my home desktop to the internet. Now, I can always keep up to date, my staff and the people that I work with can see when I am available, and the people who I choose, specifically my husband, can see exactly what I'm doing (except for those appointments that I deem to be private, even to him).

As a family tool, my husband can sync his calendar with Yahoo as well and I can view his calendar side by side with mine, without officially merging our information. This way, I can see which evenings hubby is more inclined to "baby-sit" our brood while I have drinks with the girls.
Cheers ladies!

Make a List and Check it Twice

Without some efficient and useful tools to make your day successful and productive, there are simply not enough hours in the day to do it all. You can multi-task until your arms fall off, but unless you are organized and prepared, you will alway fall short.
While I am in favor of any gadget that will help me downsize my to do list, my to do is the the single most essential tool, and I refuse to lose it in cyberspace or delete it by accident. Some things are priceless enough to spend the extra time on, making sure you have a hard-copy and a paperless version. And lists are that one necessity for me. Not just any list will do, however, so I invest in these ultra chic versions from Knock Knock that give me in hand access to everything I need to do in a day and for an event, before I send them off to cyber heaven. Besides, some things, like your grocery list don't need to be saved, just trashed after use!


To Do List:


Shopping List:


Event Planning List:



*New Item* Random:


You can jot down things you see online or thoughts you have while working, and incorporate them, at the end of the day, to your PDA if they are worthy!

How to Avoid Morning Madness

Every Queen Bee knows that it is critically important to get her beauty rest. To me, this means waiting until the last possible moment to get out of bed. Don't get me wrong Sister Bees, I am a morning person. Once I get out of bed, I am ready for the day!...it's just the actual getting out of bed that is the problem...

Anyway, evening prep is the obvious solution for that early morning madness. Sounds simple right? Sure, but sometimes I need to remind and motivate myself to do these simple things at night, so I don't have to do them in the morning:

• Make sure my work clothes and the kids' school clothes are out and ready to wear
• Pack lunches
• Check my calendar and coordinate the family calendar
• Decide what you are making for dinner the next night (this way you can add any needed grocery items to your task list)
• Make a task list for the next day (as necessary - also, keep a notebook by the bed just in case some pressing matter wakes you up in the middle of the night)
• Straighten up the house

These simple steps take little time, but can save those precious minutes in the morning that impact your ability to get the kids to school on time and get yourself to work. PLUS you come home to a decent house and less stress...before you mess it up again!

Your own routine will be very specific to your morning needs and your family situation, but here are a couple of other routines you might get ideas from:

The FlyLady
Zen Habits

Royal Assistant

Every Queen Bee needs a trusted and loyal Assistant to help her through her day. One that will keep all her work, social and family appointments organized, help her remember her loved ones' birthdays and phone numbers, and hey, it doesn't hurt if the Assistant also knows all the Queen Bee's favorite songs, takes pictures, records and plays videos and makes phone calls. Caught on yet? I'm talking about Personal Digital Assistants or PDAs, which come in nearly as many different shapes, colors and functions as the Jimmy Choo Spring Collection. Personally, I need my PDA to be as multi-functional as I am. So instead of opting to carry a PDA (which routinely would include a calendar, contacts, and select functions usually associated with Microsoft Office type tasks), MP3 player, digital camera/video recorder and cell phone, I like to have one device that does it all.

I live a fast paced, high impact life, so I tend to be hard on electronic devices. However, Queen Bee that I am, I also expect that anything I am carrying will be as sleek and stylish as the rest of me. Right now, I carry the Samsung BlackJack II.
I chose this device because I use Microsoft Office products at work and at home daily and I need to have access to my documents when I am on the go. It is also critical for me to be able to sync the calendar I have on my desktop with the calendar that is with me everywhere I go (not to mention all my music and videos in Window's Media Player). The BlackJack's 3G capabilities mean that I have a superfast connection to the internet at all times and I get my email to my phone in real-time. I am also able to IM with AOL, Windows Live or Yahoo, which is awesome considering that the firewalls on the network at my job do not give me that same opportunity. Furthermore, you can expand the memory with up to a 4 GB micro Scan Disk memory card. Plus - and this is the real reason I chose this phone -it comes in red, which is my favorite color in the whole wide world.

Before this, I carried the Cingular 8525, which has been upgraded to the AT&T Tilt. This device is slightly bulkier than the BlackJack II, much more expensive, and it doesn't come in any pretty colors (you can see what my priorities are...) BUT, it does have a much larger screen, a slide out key-board, 3 mega-pixel camera (v. a 2 MP w/ the BlackJack II), and a touch screen - which if nothing else, makes it a lot easier to play Solitaire. This device is all business, all the time and what it lacks in flamboyance, it makes up with functionality.
Finally, to help my husband better organize his life, I got him a Palm Treo 750.
Although this device is not equipped with 3G or the IM functions, it is equipped with Windows Mobile and does everything else the BlackJack II does, with a touch screen. My husband really loves his and I considered getting it, but it only came in blue...and I really had my heart set on the red...

Most wireless carriers have versions of these devices. If you are not dead set on the Window's operating system, your options widen even more. I basically chose the BlackJack because it was the most cost efficient and (if I haven't mentioned this already) the color. Also, of the three, the BlackJack II was the only one eligible for insurance. When you go through devices as quickly as I do, insurance is a MUST. In the end, you have to choose a device that is going to meet your needs and fit your lifestyle, so...what kind of Bee are you?

Staying Fit...When You Have a Million Other Things to do

A Queen Bee is expected to do everything well...and to look good doing it. Health and fitness are critical to a Queen Bee in order to maintain her hectic schedule and fabulous lifestyle, but sometimes it seems IMPOSSIBLE to fit it all in. Lucky for you, productivity and multi-tasking are my specialties. Now we have already talked about the yoga class that I take, which doubles as quality family time. I have recently joined the parent team at my daughter's cheerleading gym. I usually don't have time to sit around and chat with the other moms, so this experience gives me the opportunity to get to know them and establish some networks. A Queen Bee's job is never done!

Initially, I was very skeptical about the idea of a "parent cheer team". I figured they wore matching outfits and really didn't do anything. I went to the first session really just to feel it out to see if there was anything I could get out of it...my time is much too precious to waste. Being that I was still sore enough to take ibuprofen 4 days later, I can tell you that it is a serious work out and it was fun. Plus, I don't know if you know about the "wonderful world of competitive cheerleading", but competitions usually last all.day.long. and most of the time is spent waiting - so it is definitely a plus to be among friends. Also, Sprite can come to practice with me and hang out with her team mates and work on her skills. We are all about killing as many birds as possible...with as few stones as possible.

Another option that a Queen Bee has when trying to optimize her work-out time within her existing schedule, is to organize people to work-out at her place of employment. We hired a personal trainer to come and torture a group of us right after work. We also walk together at lunch time, when weather permits. There are also tons of exercises you can do at your desk. Some can even be modified and done in the car during those long commutes - and long commutes are not recommended Queen Bees, but we'll talk more about that later. If you have the time, of course...